Clothes hanger



J. M. WILSON CLOTHES HANGER April 8, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 21,1956 INVENTOR. JOHN M. WILSON April 8, 1958 J. M.W|LSON 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORQ JOHN M. WILSON CLOTHES HANGER John M, Wilson, San Diego,Calif.

Application May 21, 1956, Serial No. 586,013

4 Claims. Cl. 223-88) 1 The present invention relates generally togarment hangers and more particularly to a clothes hanger having asomewhat resilient body with novel clothes retaining means. p

The primary object of this invention is to provide a clothes hangerwhich has novel wings which engage the waist bands of skirts, ladiesslacks, mens trousers or the like and suspends and supports suchgarments in a wrinklefree manner, with the weight of the garmentutilized as an agency for tightening the hold of the wings on thegarment,

Another object of this invention is to provide ,a clothes hanger inwhich certain body portions are resiliently expandable for bettergripping action, this feature being additive and auxiliary to thatmentioned in the preceding object. a 4

Another object of this invention is to provide a clothes hanger of theaforementioned character having shoulder portions by means of which acoat or the like may be supported in wrinkle-free manner simultaneouslywith one of the before mentioned nether outer garments.

Another object of this invention is to provide a clothes hanger in whichsaid shoulder portions have a secondary function as finger holds formanipulation of the wings.

Another object of this invention is to provide a clothes hanger which,in the smaller sizes thereof serves as a support for trousers andslacksin inverted position.

Another object of this invention is-to provide aclothes hanger which isadapted for fabricationfrom many different materials, so that the choiceofmaterial can be according to the dictates of availability and priceconsiderations, the exact sizes and proportions being matters easilydetermined to suit particular conditions and needs.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hanger which ispracticable and inexpensive to manufacture.

Finally, it is an object to provide a clothes. hanger of theaforementioned character which is simple, safe and convenient to use andwhich will give generally elficient and durable service. 1

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements andportions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification,particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawingspocket providing for Patented Apr. 8, 1958 is ideal for engagement withthe individual cuffs of trousers or the like.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar or identical elementsand portions throughout the specification and throughout the views ofthe drawings.

Referring now specifically to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, theclothes hanger is shown as comprising a stem 10 having a hook 12 at theupper end, and a body, generally indicated by the numeral 14, comprisinga single length of slightly flexible and resilient wire, rod or thelike. It will be understood that although the preferre embodimentutilizes plastic rods for both the stem 10 and the body 14, thecross-sectional shape is by no means critical and said stem 10 and body14 may be made of elements having a cross-sectional shape other thanround, such as square, and oval rods, or even flat spring steel, whilestill implementing the instant invention.

The body 14 is provided with a single downwardly extending pocket 16into which the lower end of the stem 10 is inserted and permanentlyaflixed therein by slight deformation in a press, thermal union or anyother suit-able means, the upwardly extending sides 18 of the increasedarea of contact and great rigidity in the attachment.

It will be understood thatthepocket 16 is located centrally of the body14, and the wings 20, 20 comprise upwardly divergent portions 22 andoutwardly disposed portions both incorporating a series of convolutions24. The convolutions 24 are disposed, in a general sense, in a verticalplane and include garment-engaging elements in the form of substantiallystraight and substantially vertical portions or surfaces 25.

a portion of each bar 34 being bent to which form a material part ofthis disclosure, and in i which:

the waist band clothing,'it being Stops 26, extending slightly outwardlyfrom the'top of the outermost convolution 24,'serve 'to limit theinsertion of an opposed pair of the co'nvolutions 24 into 28 of a skirt30 or similar article of understood that the skirt 30,. illustrated onlyin Figure 2, is merely representative of a great number of articleswhich may be suspended in this manner.

Opposed shoulder bars 34, unitary with the stops 26, converge upwardlytoward the stem 10, the 'upper end constitute a finger pull 38 in spacedrelation with the stem 10.

If reference now be had specifically to Figure 2, the action of thehanger becomes immediately apparent. If the body 14 is deflected intothe position as indicated by dash line or the position of maximum upwarddeflection, the convolutions 24 are moved both upwardly and inwardly, i.e., toward the stem 10, obviously decreasing band 28 and allowing thegarment to depend therefrom in a natural manner.

' Obviously, since the waist band 28 is securely held in the aforesaidmanner, there can be no sagging of the band 28, and therefore nosubsequent premanent distortion is experienced as is quite'comrnon inother types of hangers.

A linear element such as a small chain 40 or the like terminablyengaging the finger pulls 38, or looped there- -about, and extendingtherebetween is provided to prevent inadvertent overloading andconsequent overdeflection downwardly. It will be also noted that ajacket or the like, not shown in the drawings, may be hung in theconventional manner upon the shoulder bars 34, since substantially allbending is localized in the portions 22 and convolutions 24 as clearlyindicated by the dash line representation in Figure 2 and the chain 40prevents overdeflection. t Referring nowto Figure 3 ofthe drawings,there is shown a modified form of the invention. A hanger of thisgeneral type can be fabricated from heavy gauge, relatively inflexiblewire. The stem 44 has a hook 46 on its upper end and the body, generallyindicated by the numeral 48, comprises a single length of wire or thelike. The body-48 is provided with a single helical coil 50, secured tothe lowerend of the stem 44, and legs 52, unitary withithe coil, extenddivergently upwardly from the lower side of the coil. The legs 52 areprovided with conyolutions 54, garment-engaging elementsSS and stops 56,analogous to the convolutions 24, element 25 and .stops 2,6 of theforegoing embodiment. Shoulder bars.58, unitary with-the stops 56,-extend convergently upwardly toward the stem 44 and these shoulder barshave finger pulls 60 constituting loop ends with returned portions .62welded or otherwise fixedly attached, as indicated at 64,-adjacent tothe ends of the stops 56.

.. It now becomes evident that a substantial portion of the deflectionis provided for by the coil 50, while the reinforcementof the structureat 64 due to said welding substantially eliminates bending at the points64, while a chain 66 extending between the finger pulls 60 and attachedthereto prevents over deflection downwardly when a coat or the like issuspended upon the bars 62. The waistband portion of a garment, notshown in Figure 3, is heldsecurely between opposing pairs ofconvolutions 54 due .to the outward biasing of the .convolutions 54 inexactly. the same manner as in the first described embodiment.

. If reference now be had to Figure 4, a second modification of theinstant hanger is shown as comprising a stem 70 having an upper hookportion 72, the lower end of the stem 70 being'fixedly attached to atransverse spanner bar. 74. The bar 74 is-provided with depending legs76, said legs having portions 78 bent to lie horizontally. As in thepreviously disclosed forms, the body 80 is fabricated from a singlelength of resilient Wire and is bent to pro videspaced parallel wingelements 84 diverging slightly upwardly from the portions 78 to whichthey are rigidly secured as by welding. The ends of the legs 84 are bentas at: 86 and extend upwardly to constitute garmentengaging elements 88,analogous to a single pair of the convolutions 24, 54 previouslydisclosed herein. Stops 90 extending normally outwardly from the upperend of the portions 88, are, analogous to the previously dis closed stopportions 26, 56.

The portions 94 terminate in loops constituting finger pulls 96. Thisembodiment of the instant hanger is adapted, when made in small sizes,for supporting slacks and trousers in inverted position, engagementtherewith being accomplished merely by biasing the finger pulls 96toward each other, and then inserting the wing elements individuallyintothe cuff of the garments with the portions .88 in registration withthe normal creases of said cults. Release of the pulls 96 allows thelegs 84 to return toward the undeflected position, biasing the portions88 outwardly-and securely holding the garments in inverted position. Itwill be obvious that the distance between the garment-engaging portions33'rnust be slightly greater than the span of the cuffs wherewiththedevice is to'be used. I a i The operation of this invention will beclearly comprehended from a consideration of the foregoing descriptionof the mechanical details thereof, taken inconnection with the drawingand the above recited objects. It

be obvious that all said objects are amply'achieved by this invention.

Further description would appear to be unnecessary.

It is understood that minor variation from the form of the inventiondisclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scopeof the invention, and that the specification and drawing are to beconsidered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

I claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising: a supporting stem having a hook at theupper end; a pair of opposed wings having garment-engaging elements andhaving their adjacent ends secured to the lower end of said stem; saidwings being slightly flexible and resilient and extending divergentlyupwardly from said lower end; whereby the weight of clothes supported onsaid wings tends to pull said wings downwardly with consequent increaseof spacing between the corresponding elements on the opposing wings; andmeans on said wings for temporarily decreasing the divergence tofacilitate attachment and detachment of garments and comprising shoulderbars terminally secured to said wings and extending therefrom towardsaid stem to points adjacent to each other, said finger pulls on theends of said bars adjacent said stem.

2. A garment hanger according to claim 1 and including a linear elementsecured to and extending between the adjacent ends of said bars.

3. A clothes hanger comprising: a supporting stem having a hook at theupper end thereof; a body including a pair of opposed wings of slightlyresilient material secured in fixed relation at their adjacent ends tothe lower end of said stem and diverging upwardly therefrom; said wingshaving garment-engaging elements therein; shoulder bars in fixedrelation with the outer extremities of said wings and extendingconvergently upwardly toward said stemto points adjacent to each other;finger pulls on the ends of said bars adjacent said stem formanipulation by one hand, whereby said shoulder bars may be pulledtowardsaid stem, thereby deflecting said wings upwardly to facilitatemanipulation of the hanger into the garmentsupporting position and torelease a garment from the hanger.

4. A clothes hanger comprising: a supporting stem having a hook at theupper end thereof; a body including apair of opposed wings of slightlyresilient material secured in fixed relation at their adjacent ends tothe lower end of said stem. and diverging upwardly therefrom; said wingsha-ving garment-engaging elements therein; shoulder bars in fixedrelation with-the outer extremities of said wings and extendingconvergently upwardly toward said stem to points adjacent to said stem,finger pulls on the ends of said bars adjacent said stem, whereby saidshoulder bars may be pulled toward said stern, thereby deflecting saidwings upwardly to facilitate manipulation of the hanger into thegarment-supporting position and torelease a garment from the hanger; andmeans to limit the downward deflection of said wings; said meanscomprisinga flexible linear element terminally secured to said fingerpulls and extending therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

